Pages

Thursday, November 28, 2013

This was supposed to go up yesterday but what can I say,
I've been a bit out of sorts lately. For those of us in the States it is
Thanksgiving, a time to be thankful for what you have and sit around with loved
ones stuffing our faces with way too much food. I am so very thankful for all
of the support I've been given in the wake of some personal goings-on in my
life and for my friends who took time out of their days and nights to keep my
book release on schedule. I am equally thankful for everyone who has read
Waking Up In Bedlam.

So this year while everyone else is nodding off in a food
coma from too much turkey I am sitting on my couch reflecting on what this past
year has given me and what I hope to accomplish in the coming year.

This year has been rough, I won't lie, it has been down
right dirty. Between life and personal issues, to deadlines, to having a plan
and having to then rearrange everything because an amazing opportunity got
handed to us, to then having to cram for short deadlines, to this book release,
to my first experience with a publishing house and my first round of edits back
from them, to these holidays that are going to be a personal trail by fire for
me. But at the end of the day I am thankful for the fact that I am still
standing, not all of my deadlines got met but I didn't let the opportunity that
I wasn't expecting slip out of my hands either. I busted my ass on juggling
projects. Some days it was hard, other days it was easy. That's life. And I am thankful
for all of it. The ups and downs, dark clouds and silver linings, good days and
the bad.

And lastly I am grateful to the friends and readers who have
recommended my book to others. I really am still struggling with promotion and
marketing so the word of mouth from readers is great. Thank you.

What's next? Hell if I know. That's the truth. I have a
project with +Alexandra Webb, we should be wrapped up near the beginning of December
(I think). She'll start cracking the whip after Thanksgiving she said. I'm very
excited for this project and hopefully it will be the first of many. Next on
the list is finishing up a project that is called Steamworks, it was my NaNo
and life derailed and took that story with it. And I am slowly plugging away at
Waking Up In Chains, the sequel to Waking Up In Bedlam. I can't wait to get
that story out. The main characters are just starting to get a little chatty in
my brain so hopefully they will start shouting at me soon.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Synopsis: Ryder is a fake- and he knows it. He spends his days pretending to be a paranormal investigator and his nights entertaining groups of believers with his claims of communicating with the dead. Life is good and business is booming until the night a beautiful woman storms out of his seminar and a mysterious man drops an unexplainable case in his lap. Ryder finds out the world he thought was fake is actually real and even worse, he has become the paranormal world's most wanted.

Jessa wants answers and the human, Ryder, is the only one who can give them to her. She has one goal, keep him alive long enough to figure our why he has been haunting her dreams. The only problem is the more time she spends with him the more she realizes the answers she seeks are ones she isn't ready to face.

Can either one of them accept what fate has laid out for them? Or will they fight their destiny at the cost of everyone they hold dear?

Review: I loved the plot of this book. It took me away and the characters were amazing. The one thing that I have to rave about though is Mia's ability to crave dialogue. It flows well, it keeps the story moving, and it's not cheesy. That's hard to find in a PNR book. I was privileged enough to receive and ARC of this book and I'm glad I was on the list.

The plot has twists and turns that aren't predictable and I love the Fae lore in it. It's clear that Bishop has her own image of the Fae as well as uses elements that we are all familiar with when it comes to their world. (Light and Dark Court, back stabbing, so on so forth.) The relationship between Ryder and Jessa is clear and though Ryder isn't an instant like (don't worry, you learn to like him, that's the point!) he is a great character. Imagine this, he isn't flawless! Neither is Jessa. The sex in this book is well written and hot!

Overall Mia did a great job at crafting her debut novel and I urge you to check it out!

Today we are going to cover egos. Now as we see Dictionary.com defines ego in several different ways. I'm going to focus on the third definition. Now, as indie authors, we have to have some what of an ego in order to talk about our books, suggest them to people, do interviews, and essentially brag about ourselves for a little bit. But that only takes a bit of egotism and some confidence, hell, I know authors who fake it most of the time and it works.

But there are authors out there who have too much ego. Why does it matter, you ask? I don't know about you, but when I was an aspiring author, hell as a published author, I look up to those authors who are down to earth. Someone you can talk to as a person and someone you can relate to. I think this is important as an author, if you have too big of an ego and come off that way, eventually it'll hurt your sales, your reputation, and as an indie author you can't afford that.

Let me give you an example. Back in 2006, a friend flew me out for a book signing for a particular author. It was a pretty exclusive book signing since it was an end of a tour party. I was so excited, because it was an author that I admired, adored, and looked up to. So I get out there, and I'm nervous as hell because this is my first time meeting a big name author. But by the end of the night, there I stood at the table with her and decided, 'she's a normal person, I can talk to her as such.' I don't remember what I said, but she completely blew me off and wandered away. I was devastated. It wasn't like I expected her to remember my name, or my face, but a small conversation to take home with me. As I closely watched her, she didn't approach anyone and blew off everyone who tried to approach her. Now, we're talking about a book signing with maybe 50 people at it. She acted like she was better than everyone and above them all.

This stuck with me, and to this day, I have a hard time picking up her books to read them. I felt like persona she gave online, on social networking, on her website and interviews was not the cold shoulder person I had met. That didn't sit right with me. I haven't bought one of her books since.

So let me give you the flip side of this.

Two years ago another author that I adored came to a city near me. I was three months pregnant, and my poor husband feared for the interior of his car because I threatened to throw up every few miles. This was a huge signing so I didn't expect any personal time, I just wanted to see her and get a book signed. So my husband indulged me. We got up there and there was a massive group, as expected, I found someone I had communicated with online, and she gushed about how this author just adored her fans and were grateful for all of them. So the author did her speaking, and then came the book signing part. I got up there, and was nervous, but I didn't want to make the same 'mistake' that I had at the other book signing, so I mumbled, 'hi.'

The author caught me off guard. "Oh my gosh, I love your hair!" (it was tinted purple at the time) And despite the fact that there were at least 100 people behind me, she took a couple minutes to talk to me. She found out I was pregnant, wished me luck, and gave me a huge hug. I was in aw and on cloud nine for the rest of the night. I don't expect her to remember me next time, but I know that I will always continue to support her because I watch how she struck up a conversation with everyone. Better yet, I watched how at the end of the signing, she hung around to mingle with those who stayed after. Some of them she'd even known by name because they showed up to all her signings.

Ego. It can hurt you if you let it get out of control. Those are two memories I will always keep with me and two great examples. As an indie author, if we turn one person off by pretending or thinking we are better than everyone else, it really hurts us. Because that person will tell someone else. Now, I'm not saying don't advertise or don't talk about yourself ever, but remember you are nothing with out your readers. When you're writing your bio, or answering questions, be weary of things that make you sound egotistical things like, "a brand new look on this genre" "as demanded by thousands of fans" "Worlds best author." when writing bios, answering interview questions, unless you're quoting a source that can be found--that's a different story.

I recently attended a convention under my other name, and one of the best things about this convention was that readers, bloggers, and authors all had time to mingle. The person who ran the convention stressed that it was the best thing we could do as authors, sit down with readers, and don't automatically start talking up your books, hell don't even mention them. There were several people who bought books after just sitting down and having a normal conversation with the authors, and they had no clue that they were talking to authors.

So check your ego, get your head out of your ass, and be a normal person who just happens to write. Be down to earth, even as an author, big name, small name, new or seasoned, you are still human and not a god or goddess. Agree? Disagree? I'd love to hear your thoughts below. Please feel free to comment.